


Broken Wings

by IcyPheonix



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Dark Signer AU, Dark Signer Crow, Gen, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9511256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: The final zone conquest of Satellite goes horribly wrong, and Team Satisfaction loses one of their own.Several years later the fallen comrade returns, but not as he was before.Dark Signer Crow AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The plan is for this to be a 3 parter but idk. We'll see. It's not going to be that long though.  
> I wanted to post this once I'd finished all the parts, but I'm impatient. So here's the first part(maybe it'll get me to write faster)
> 
>  
> 
> Oh and I worked it out, Crow would be around 14/15 at the beginning. So dwell on that.  
> And yes, there's a bit of canon divergence past the Dark Signer Crow bit.

There was only one zone in Satellite left, one place that Team Satisfaction had not yet claimed as their own. It was a rough place, held down by a gang of no less than 7 duelists, but that wasn’t going to stop them, being outnumbered was nothing new. They could handle odds like that.

And yet, as Yusei looked around the room, something didn’t sit right with him. There were only three of them, one apiece for him, Jack and Kiryu.

“We’re gonna take your little gang apart piece by piece, starting with that kid you drag around,” sneered the one standing in front of Jack.

Yusei frowned, kid, what kid were they-he froze as his stomach dropped and a horrifying realization hit him.

“Crow!”

 

“Man, there ain’t anyone here,” grumbled Crow, picking his way through the rubble. “Guess I should go back and tell Yusei.” He sighed, what a bother splitting up had been, there was no one there.

He didn’t see the figures approaching him from behind, didn’t hear the footsteps crunching through the debris, and didn’t realize he wasn’t alone until he turned around. And something heavy collided with the side of his head, dropping him to the ground like a stone.

“Grab his arms and get him up!”

“Little birdie shouldn’t have wandered away from his group.”

Metal scraped over cement and Crow groaned, head throbbing painfully. A fiery pain lanced though him as something heavy slammed into his ribs with a sickening crunch.

 

Yusei grunted as he tightened his grip on Kiryu’s hand, using every ounce of strength he had, and what Kiryu could manage, to pull himself onto the roof, his legs shaking like jelly.

“Kiryu you–”

“It’s not that bad,” he insisted, waving Yusei off as he rubbed his arm. “I’ve had worse.”

“Get Jack, we need to find Crow, now!”

 

“Crow! Crow!” Yusei just about tore the door off its hinges as he staggered though it and into the room.

The original plan had been to split up and Crow had gone off alone, something they’d done plenty of times before. Crow was a capable kid, so Yusei never worried about him.

Except this time–this time he was worried. It was far to quiet for his liking and something felt wrong.

He took another step and his foot hit a metal pipe, sending it rolling across the floor. One look at it made his stomach knot, it was covered in blood.

“Crow!”

On shaking legs he made his way through the room, fear rising with each silent moment that passed, Jack and Kiryu somewhere behind him.

He started to call out again when something caught his attention, something that made his blood run cold, blood and lots of it. It painted the walls and the floors and was splattered across the surface of surrounding objects. And right in the center of it all, slumped against the wall and unmoving, was Crow.

Yusei didn’t even realize he’d screamed till he heard Jack and Kiryu’s voices behind him.

A stinging sensation shot through his knees as they hit the hard, unforgiving ground, his legs having given out under him in shock.

“Crow…” his voice croaked as he made his way towards his friend, practically crawling on the floor. His hand came down with a wet slap in the pool of blood that had formed around him and Yusei felt a sob catch in his throat.

Reaching towards Crow, Yusei touched his face, smearing the blood that was there and adding to it with what was on his hand.

Dark, ugly bruises had begun to form on Crow’s skin, marring his face and arms in large black and blue spots.

“No. Open your eyes Crow, please.”

From behind him was an anguished scream and someone-Jack it sounded like-stormed out of the room.

Yusei’s hands shook as they moved, trying in vain to find a pulse, to find any sign of life. But there was nothing, no flicker of breath, no response to his touches, nothing.

“Crow please, you have to open your eyes, Crow!”

He barely felt Kiryu’s hands pulling him off Crow, holding him back.

“He’s gone Yusei, he’s gone. I’m sorry.”

 

Jack offered to break the news to Martha, someone had too and Yusei, still covered in Crow’s blood, was in no shape to be doing so. As it was he could barely form a single, coherent sentence, let alone explain what had happened.

 

Martha’s anguished cry was a sound Yusei would never forget. He was sure all of Satellite heard it, certainly the entire household had. Yusei wondered how they were going to tell the kids.

He clenched his eyes shut as he scrubbed harder, the water running red and staining the sink as the blood rushed off his hands. This wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right. How could he have been so stupid as to walk willfully into a trap like that? He’d let Crow down, after he’d promised him that he’d look out for him, that he’d always have his back.

He gave a cry of frustration as he scrubbed harder, why wouldn’t the blood just come off?

When Kiryu found him he was still scrubbing, tears running down his cheeks, as he muttered ‘it won’t come off’, over and over.

“Yusei?” He looked up at the sound of his name, letting his hands fall under the running water.

“The blood won’t come off,” he said, shoulders shaking.

Kiryu looked at his hands and frowned, they’d been scrubbed so red and raw that the skin on the knuckles and the pads of his fingers had begun to tear and bleed.

“Come on, let’s get you something for that,” he said, padding them dry before leading Yusei away from the sink.

He gave Yusei a pair of his old leather gloves, the leather worn soft from years of use.

“Here, now you won’t have to look at it,” he said, slipping them on Yusei’s hands.

Yusei sobbed, falling against Kiryu’s chest, “I want him back, I want Crow back!”

Kiryu clenched his jaw, trying to hold his composure.

“We all do Yusei.”

 

The funeral was small and private, off in a secluded part of Satellite. Only the remaining members of Team Satisfaction and Martha were in attendance, Jack and Kiryu covered in dirt from digging a grave for their fallen friend.

 

Yusei never did stop wearing the gloves.

 

 

The loss of Crow shattered Team Satisfaction and their morale. They stopped their takeover of Satellite, what was the point when it had caused the loss of one of their own?

And then, slowly but surely, they began to drift apart.

 

The first one to leave was Kiryu, just up and leaving one day. One day he was there, the next he was gone, along with all of his belongings. No one knew where he went; he didn’t leave a note or say anything, he just vanished.

They didn’t even know if he was alive or dead, though some believed he’d simply gone off to a far corner of Satellite to die. Some said he’d left Satellite and the City entirely to wander the world.

Whatever the case, Yusei didn’t see him again.

 

Yusei stopped dueling, throwing himself into helping look after the small kids. He couldn’t bring himself to even touch his deck, not for any serious duels at any rate. He’d duel the kids, on the kitchen table and for fun.

The kids needed someone, and Yusei felt responsible for Crow being gone. He was no replacement, he knew that, but seeing their smiling faces helped.

When he needed clear his head he drove out to the Daedalus Bridge and just sat, watching the sun.

 

Jack on the other hand threw himself into his dueling, spending less and less time around Yusei and more and more time out. He wanted to get better, had to get better, so that what happened to Crow would never happen again. He staked out his own small patch of territory, dueling anyone who came by, Yusei and the kids being the only exceptions.

Yusei didn’t see him very much.

 

 

The sound of a D-Wheel from below the bridge caught Yusei’s attention and for a fleeing moment he thought it was Crow, it had been over a year and he still never stopped expecting to see or hear him.

“Yusei!” It was Jack, a very rare sight those days.

“Jack.”

“It’s been a while,” said Jack as Yusei made his way to the base of the bridge.

Yusei nodded, “It has. You seem, well.” He knew Jack well enough to know this wasn’t a social visit; Jack didn’t do social visits, not like this. “So, why are you here?”

Jack sighed, crossing his arms, “I have a opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”

“In the Fortune Cup. But I need Stardust.”

Yusei frowned, of all the things for Jack to ask for, his dragon was a surprise to be sure.

Jack explained, in his own way, that someone had come to him, offered him a chance to compete in the Fortune Cup, but only if he brought Stardust and Red Daemon’s Dragon. He didn’t say why those cards in particular.

Yusei hardened his expression as he looked at the card, it was special to him, important even, but it hadn’t seen a real duel in a long time. He never used it when playing with the kids.

After a moment he held it out to Jack.

“Win. For Crow.”

Stardust would fare better in a deck where it would get use, and he trusted Jack to care for it.

Jack nodded, “There is one more thing I need.”

“Anything.”

“Your D-Wheel.”

That was the deal breaker, the card was one thing, but the D-Wheel, he’d built that with his own two hands.

“Go without it.”

“I can’t.”

Yusei kept a firm grip on the D-Wheel, refusing to hand it over, but Jack wouldn’t budge on it.

The disagreement went south fast and soon turned physical, blows were traded along with heated words.

In the end, Jack took the D-Wheel as well, and Yusei made his way home to nurse his injuries.

 

He wouldn’t see Jack for another year, when the dreams started, the dreams and the burning in his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a year late but oh look another chapter(I'm sorry it's so short given how long it took Y_Y).
> 
> I promise I won't take another year for the next one. I have the whole thing planned out, I just, gotta wrangle my muse to cooperate so I can write it out.  
> Hopefully the next bit will be a bit more, prompt.

Yusei wasn’t sure if it was the dream, or the burning sensation shooting through his arm that woke him, but when he woke, he woke with a scream, clutching his arm tightly.

Red lines burned into his skin, glowing in a pattern he’d never seen before. He fought back the urge to scream anymore, having already lucked out that his first cry hadn’t woken anyone.

Doubling over, he held the position till the burning stopped and the mark faded.

He tried to brush it off, but night after night they persisted, dreams of a great red dragon. And each time he woke up, clutching his arm in a cold sweat as it burned with a pain the likes of which he’d never felt before, the red mark almost glowing in the darkness.

 

Yusei clenched his jaw tightly as tears of pain stung his eyes, holding his forearm tightly as it burned fiercely, as if a fire had been lit under his skin.

It had been happening for nearly a week and he wasn’t sure he could take much more of it.

There was only person he could think of that could help, Jack. The mark on his arm reminded him of the birthmark on Jack’s arm. It was a long shot but surely there was some kind of connection between the two.

 

He looked over his bike, making sure it was in working shape before his dangerous trip out. Leaving Satellite and getting into Neo Domino, they said it was impossible.

Yusei was going to prove them wrong.

 

The trip was a mess, but in the end he made it, and confronted Jack, who was more than expecting him albeit for different reasons.

Unfortunately, Jack had no more answers than he did, equally as surprised as Yusei when the mark appeared during their impromptu duel, alongside a massive dragon seemingly made of flame.

It was a flurry of events after that, including a brief stint in the Facility, only shortened by some help from above, someone was pulling on the strings.

The man’s name was Godwin, and he said the ones who bore the red marks were ‘Signers’, the Signers of the Crimson Dragon.

It wasn’t long after that, after the events of the Fortune Cup, that the Dark Signers appeared, people whose motives were the very antithesis of the Signers.

The Dark Signers commanded the Earthbound Gods, ancient and powerful beings sealed deep beneath the Nazca lines and bore their marks, while the Signers were the servants of the Crimson Dragon, the being that had sealed the wicked, ancient spirits away.   


Yusei gripped the handles of his D-Wheel tightly as it sped though Satellite.

Godwin said the two factions had been fighting for nearly 5000 years, and the final battle was to be waged there, in Satellite, to determine the fate of the world.

The problem was there were supposed to be five Signers and they only had four; himself, Jack, Aki and Ruka, the latter of which was only a child. They were in way over their heads.

Slowly he looked around, squinting though the darkness of the coming dusk. He’d hoped to get there sooner while he still had daylight to aid him.

“Well, well, look what we have here.”

Yusei froze, his D-Wheel rolling to a stop as he looked around.

“Yusei Fudo, it’s been a long time.”

Yusei looked up to the top of a large rock where another rider stood, arms resting on the handles of their D-Wheel, face obscured by a hooded cloak. Yusei narrowed his eyes, something about the voice and the D-Wheel, it felt familiar somehow, as if he’d seen and heard it before.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“Oh how cruel Yusei, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your old friend already?” The figure sat up as they spoke, flinging back the hood as they sneered down at Yusei. “I’m hurt, I thought I meant more to you than that.”

He froze, blood running cold in his veins, hands shaking. What he was seeing was impossible and yet, seated there upon a D-Wheel and staring down at him with a sickening grin, was Crow. His once gold criminal markers were an eerie blood red and the whites of his eyes were pitch black, giving him an unsettling appearance.

“Of course I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said, picking up his helmet. “Considering you abandoned me and left me to die!” Blackbird’s engine revved and the next moment it flew off the top of the cliff, a pair of retractable wings flaring out as it became airborne.

There was a loud noise as Blackbird hit the ground and Crow and his D-Wheel spun around to face Yusei, arm raised above his head. Yusei watched as a mark began to appear, glowing in an unsettling violet light.

“So now it’s your turn Yusei, to feel despair and pain just like I did. I’m going to make sure you know exactly what hell I went through because of you.”

He revved the engine again and as Blackbird sped off, the same violet light trailed after it, carving through the earth as it traced out a path.

Yusei tightened his grip on the handles of his D-Wheel, this was wrong, Crow couldn’t be alive, couldn’t be there. He’d buried him years ago, so how, how was he right there?

The Yusei-Go roared to life as he took off after Crow, careful to avoid the strange violet light.

“You see these flames Yusei?” Crow gestured to the violet flames around them that formed the circuit on which they’d duel. “These are the flames that are going to burn you in hell! And then when I’m done with you, I’m going to find that bastard Jack and make him pay. You hear me Atlas?” Crow looked towards the helicopter that flew above them, dipping dangerously close to the flames. “I’m coming for you next!”

 

High in the air above, Jack clutched the doorway to the helicopter (despite the protests of everyone else inside who pleaded in vain with him to sit down) as he watched the fight erupt below.

Crow, what was he doing there? It didn’t make any sense, Crow was dead, he’d seen the body, helped bury it, and yet there he was. And yet, that couldn't possibly be their Crow.  


A hand grabbed Jack, hauling back inside the helicopter roughly as it rocked to one side slightly.

“Jack what’s going on, do you know him?” asked Carly.

Jack frowned, looking down at her before looking back out of the helicopter. “I’m not sure anymore. I thought I knew him, once. But I’m not sure what to think anymore.”

 

As the fight raged on it seemed like Yusei’s words were falling on deaf ears, Crow was too full of rage and hate to listen to anything he had to say, no matter how many times he pleaded with Crow to just listen.

“ _What happened to you Crow? How did you become a Dark Signer? Why?_ ”

A deep rumble sounded overhead and the skies opened up, rain pouring down from the heavens and soaking the earth.

“I hope you’re ready Yusei! I tribute summon this monster, Dark Tuner Fallen Star Luc!”

A winged figure materialized on the field, flaring out its black-feathered wings, a spear held in its other hand.

“Dark Tuner? Oh no!” Yusei felt his stomach sink as he recalled his first encounter with such a monster, a dark tuner could only mean one thing, Crow was preparing for a Dark Synchro summon.

“From my hand I special summon Black Feather - Fane the Iron Chain! And now, I Dark Synchro Summon! Arise from the inky depths, dragon with wings stained black! Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!”

A hellish roar drowned out the thunder, as a massive beast seemed to descend from the clouds above. It looked like an amalgamation of a dragon and a bird, with a thick beak filled with sharp teeth and wings with feathers as inky black as the sky above.

A flash of lightning lit of the sky, briefly illuminating the monstrous creature for a moment before plunging the world into darkness again.

“You see this? This will be your downfall!” cried Crow as they whipped around a corner, spraying mud everywhere.

“Now Darkrage, attack with Darkfire Blast!”

Its wings quivered as they spread out and deep violet-black flames licked at its jaws and flickered through its teeth.

“I activate Scrap Iron Scarecrow!” As the blast hurtled towards him, a small figure made of bits of metal materialized in front of Yusei, absorbing the brunt of blast. The flames shot out around him and the shockwave rippled through the air, knocking the Yusei Go across the wet ground. The D-Wheel wobbled, tilting dangerously to one side as he tried to make the sharp turn. The wheels spun over a slick patch of water and the bike hydroplaned, leaning even farther to one side as Yusei hit the turn. The next thing Yusei knew the bike hit the ground and he was airborne, flung from his seat as the bike spun out with a screech of metal as it collided with the debris around them.

Pain lanced through him and everything around him fell sideways as he slammed into something and spots of pain blurred his vision. Everything hurt and every move he made only made it worse.

Around him the rain pounded against the rocks and scrap metal, like an incessant drumming that would not be silenced. The dull purple glow began to fade away and he heard the sound of a motor revving up, drawing closer and closer to where he lay.

Head swimming in pain his eyes fell shut as he listened to the sound of footsteps in the mud.

Voices squabbled amidst the growing storm and he felt arms slip under him, lifting him from the ground, his consciousness slipping away till everything fell into darkness.

 

“Goodness, who could be making such a racket at this hour?” muttered Martha as she made her way to the front door. “And what mad fool is out in this weather?” The pounding on the door increased in frequency, whoever it was, was desperate to get her attention.

“Whatever it is it had better be…important.” She trailed off as she pulled the door open, gaze falling on the young man that stood there, panting and drenched through by the rain.

“It’s Yusei! He’s been hurt!” said the man, before turning to look at the D-Wheel behind him, and Yusei’s prone form slung across it. “Please. I didn’t…I didn’t know where else to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got fast an loose with Crow's cards for the end. 
> 
> Dark Tuner Fallen Star Luc is totally made up by me (Luc=Lucifer basically hah).   
> Blackfear Darkrage Dragon is actually the manga counterpart to Blackfeather Dragon. It's now a Dark Synchro for the purposes of this fic.


End file.
